Clemens Crossing Elementary School

I am currently taking a graduate class through Towns University called Integrating Technology and Reading Instruction.  Our assignment for this week was to create a blog and write a post about these two questions: How does the technology used within the classroom today differ from when you were in school? Where do you see technology integration evolving in the future? Since I already have this blog, it didn’t make much sense to create a new one, so I am doing my post here.

Wow, the differences is technology usage from when I was in elementary school are almost too many too name.  I started kindergarten in 1975 and finished elementary school (6th grade) in 1982.  During those years the technology I remember was watching films on the two reel projectors, overhead projectors and filmstrips.  I remember being very impressed when the filmstrip and audio tape combo machine began being used.  That machine automatically turned the filmstrip when the tape was at the appropriate place.  (Very cool!)  As I moved to junior high school and high school I did get more involved with technology.  I remember doing some programming of the little turtle with LOGO and I also remember a high school class where we did some programming in BASIC.  The final project was to teach the computer how to keep score in bowling correctly.  Outside of school, my family had a home computer when I was in high school and there were times when I used the word processor to type my papers.  All of these examples are not really integrating technology, I was using technology as a tool and as a means to an end, but it was never really part of any of my daily classes.  That is one big difference that I see.  When I walk around the school I see teachers using technology as part of their instruction every day.  Sure, we have a technology class where students are totally focused on learning using tech one time a week for an hour, but beyond that teachers are using their LCD projectors and document cameras to display exemplary student work and motivate students to achieve; they are downloading short videos from UnitedStreaming to add to their lessons; they are using the computer as a classroom station to help teach reading.  I could go on and on, but technology is now a part of what they do.

Moving forward I see this continuing to evolve.  As students and teachers become more and more comfortable and knowledgeable about technology it will just become a larger part of what we do on a daily basis.  Teachers will be using ebooks when they are working with a reading group.  Textbooks will become more interactive as technology becomes both less expensive and easier to access.  Finally, I think students will continue to push us forward.  As teachers see what students can do that will motivate them to continue to use new technologies in the classroom.  What do you think?  Any memories of technology in your schooling that you want to share?

Second quarter report cards came home yesterday.  The report card offers a great opportunity to discuss your child’s progress with him/her.  If you want more information about reading and understanding the HCPSS elementary school report card, you can check out this Podcast I did a few years ago: http://cces.hcpss.org/School_Videos or see the Understanding Your Child’s Report Card Brochures located here: http://www.hcpss.org/parents/.

I recently had a parent ask me if we have an honor roll at Clemens Crossing.  We do not have an honor roll and there are a few reasons for that.

In Howard County elementary schools the primary and intermediate report cards are completely different.  The primary report card is centered around whether a student is able to master objectives independently or with assistance and the intermediate report card is centered around the degree of success measured in a traditional A, B, C grading system.  The structure of the primary report card would not translate at all to an honor roll.  So this would mean that grade K-2 could not be part of any honor roll.  This is not the only reason (we could still have one for grade 3-5), but excluding half the school from an honor roll is one reason we do not have it.  Second, as I stress to parents whenever I talk with them about their child’s report card, the first place to look at an elementary school report card is the above/on/below distinction for reading and math.  A student’s letter grades (A, B C, etc.) are based upon their performance on the curriculum and the expectations for that grade level distinction.  By that I mean a student who is on grade level in reading has to do some different things to earn an “A” then a student who is above grade level or below grade level.  For thsi reason, just looking at grades is not really the best indication of which students deserve special recognition.  Those are the main two reasons we don’t have an honor roll.

Every Friday we send home community notices in students’ Friday Folders.  Most of these do not raise any eyebrows, but every once in a while one does.  This week a flier from a local church was one of the notices.  This weekend I received emails from a few parents questioning why a church related flier was sent home at a public school.  Here is the answer.

All communications in the Friday Folder (other than the ones from the school or the CCES PTA) must be approved by our school system’s public information office.  Once approved, the fliers are  delivered to the school along with a letter from the public information office saying that we can distribute them.  The policy that governs the distribution of fliers is Policy 10010 Distribution and Display of Materials and Announcements and it can be found here.  Basically, all non-profit organizations are allowed to disseminate materials through the schools unless the content of the flier could reasonably be predicted to cause material disruption.

I’m still working on figuring this Twitter thing out   By that I mean I am very interested in posting information that is both relevant and useful to parents, but I am worried that either I will post things that are not interesting or am not posting things that are mundane to me (since I am at school all the time) but would be things that parents would want to read.  Does that make sense?  I know I want to post when major schoowide things happen (PBIS Pep Rallies, Lockdown Drills, Pumpkin Run, etc.), I see something special in a classroom, and as a reminder for upcoming events.  I am also open to other suggestions.  Do you have any suggestions about topics worth Twittering about?  (Of course this post would not be complete without a link to my Twitter account.  My Twitter name is dlarner and I can be found at twitter.com/dlarner.)

We had a great first week of school.  As we do every year, Mrs. McNelis and I met with all the grades to talk about rules and expectations.  It is something I really enjoy.  The students get to show us all that they know about ROAR behaviors, and what it means to be Respectful, Organized, Achieving, and Responsible.  Some of the insights the students have are really amazing.  We have now done this together 18 times (3 years and 6 grades a year) but each time the students make it a little different.

Another first week highlight was the Wednesday visit of County Executive Ken Ulman and Superintendent of Schools Sydney Cousin.  They toured the building with us and interacted with many students.  Their visit included a stop in Mrs. Thompson’s room where the county executive read a book to the students.  It was great to show off our building and the wonderful learning environment we have.

I received another nice email from a parent wondering why we had one piece of our playground equipment replaced a year ago and why is that piece of playground equipment designed for children age 2-5.  Here is my response:

All schools have a kindergarten playground and a regular playground.  At some schools these are located in two different areas and at some schools they are together.  At Clemens they are together.  Two years ago concerns were raised about our old kindergarten playground equipment.  It was determined that there were some possible safety issues, so the kindergarten play equipment was replaced last summer, at no cost to Clemens Crossing.  We were not scheduled to receive new equipment so we did not get both play sets replaced, we only got the new piece to replace the kindergarten equipment that was removed.  At the time I investigated how much it would cost to replace the other playset, and it would have cost over $20,000 which the school would have had to pay for.  That was prohibitively expensive and that is why we have one older (although not old) and one newer play set out there.  It is also why the sign says ages 2-5 for the new piece of equipment, since it is designed for kindergarten students the school system buys the 2-5 age range and not the 6-11 age range.  It is safe for older students to use and we allow them to use it at recess, but technically it is our kindergarten equipment and the other blue and yellow climbing equipment is our grade 1-5 set.

I received a very nice email from a parent this weekend asking about the open house on Friday.  In her email she asked if the open house could start later in the afternoon, so that it would be possible for working parents to attend.  I have never explained the rationale for the timing of the open house so I am posting the bulk of my response to her (with names removed)

Thank you for the note and the suggestion.  You are absolutely right, the timing of the open house on Friday afternoon is not convenient for working parents.  Unfortunately, I don’t see a better alternative.  Contractually, the teacher work day ends at 4:05.  We have many, many teachers who consistently work past that time, but I don’t feel comfortable scheduling an event that I want all the teachers to be at that ends past 4:00.  In addition, even though we advertise the event for 45 minutes, it really lasts more like an hour and since it takes place the last day before school starts, I need to have a quick faculty meeting right before the teachers leave that day to make sure we are all ready for the first day of school and any issues came up at the open house can be addressed.  So working backward, 2:30 is really the latest we can start it.

The open house is a very informal afternoon which many families do not attend and it is much less important than our Back to School nights and conferences for which we always have evening hours.  This year we made one additional change.  We moved our kindergarten orientation from Friday afternoon to Thursday evening so that it was easier for working parents to attend.

Friday was the first day that teachers and paraeducators could come back to school to start getting ready for the year.  The first official day for staff is Tuesday the 25th, but since the construction crew did such a great job the project was all but done by Thursday.  The boxes and furniture were all back in the building, the books were back on the shelves of the media center and Clemens Crossing was ready for some teachers!

It was incredible to see how many staff members came to school on Friday.  There was an excitement and energy in the building that had been missing since the last day of school.  Hearing everyone talk about their new classrooms and figuring out how they were going to set everything up was a lot of fun.  It truly was an exciting day.  The 25th, when everyone is back and then the Open House on the 28th when students and parents see everything for the first time are both going to be special days this week!

The work is almost complete.  At this point they are finishing up on the painting and some other finishes.  The new furniture is being delivered today and tomorrow, and the movers are bringing back the other furniture and all the boxes of books and supplies on Tuesday and Wednesday.  We are going to be ready for the staff to come back on the 25th and the Open House on the 28th.

Media Center

1st Grade Classroom